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Modern Romans Colonized in Romania – the Aromanians

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Modern Romans Colonized in Romania – the Aromanians Analele Universităţii din Oradea, Seria Geografie Year XXIII, no. 2/2013 (December), pp. 255-263 ISSN 1221-1273, E-ISSN 2065-3409 Article no. 232107-612 MODERN ROMANS COLONIZED IN ROMANIA – THE AROMANIANS Ionel Călin MICLE University of Oradea, Faculty of Geography, Tourism and Sport, Doctoral School of Geography, Oradea, Romania, e-mail: [email protected] Abstract: Aromanians were colonized in Quadrilateral and then in Old Dobrudja, in an environment completely different from their own. Their great adaptability, beeing accustomed for centuries to political changes and multiethnic coexistence, proved that they can adapt to the new conditions better than Bulgarians or Romanians, resulting to be brilliant farmers. About their specific socio-economic or patriarchal society, organized in fălcări, endogamy and specific pastoral activities, many researches have been done since the time of the Byzantine chroniclers. It is interesting that this mountainous-shepherd people could adapt to the flat land of Dobrudja and to the new global economy of 21th century and knew how to keep their own ethnic identity. Thanks to the affinities with the Romanians, they are well integrated into the socio-economic life Romania and especially of Dobrudja, where most of them live, being on the top of the social pyramide, especially in trade and tourism, unlike the other ethnicities, employed especially in the primary sector. It can be said that today Aromanians have key roles in the economic life of the Dobrudja region, forming in this regard, with the Romanians, the upper stratum of the society. Key words: adaptability, colonization, quadrilateral, integration * * * * * * INTRODUCTION This paper proposes a short overview of the history of the colonization of the Aromanians in Dobrudja and a current diagnosis of how they have adapted themselves to the new living environment but also to the Romanian cultural environment and the way in which they knew to preserve their cultural identity.Although they had to adjust to a totally different environment, their great mobility and adaptability, learned over the centuries in the Balkans, had ensured their success this time too, becoming from semi-nomadic herders the most successful businessmen and succesfull farmers in Dobrudja. These psychosocial traits were found by many researchers, scientists, writers and laymen who have known and studied them in their homeland or in the diaspora. German scholar Weigand (1894) appreciated their desire to cultivate themselves and their native intelligence, superior to other Balkan ethnicities. BRIEF HISTORY OF THE COLONIZATION OF THE AROMANIANS IN DOBRUDJA. FIRST STAGE – THE COLONIZATION IN QUADRILATERAL Following the establishment of independent national states in the Balkans, on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, all tried Corresponding Author http://istgeorelint.uoradea.ro/Reviste/Anale/anale.htm 256 Ionel Călin MICLE expanding their own national territories and creating „great national states” on the account of what was left of Turkey in Europe, namely Macedonia. In this context, began to intensify the interethnic conflicts by organizing armed ethnic groups, namely comitadgii gangs from Bulgaria, andarti from Greece and armatoli to the Aromanians (Cuşa, 2004). Latter, without a state of their own, Aromanians fought just to keep advocating statu-quo and their millennial rights over the territories which they occupied and their linguistic and religious freedom (Capidan, 2010). The final blow for the Aromanians was the population exchange between Turkey and Greece in 1923, when, to facilitate Graecization of Macedonia and Thrace, were brought from Turkey, over 1.3 million Greeks to these territories, where they were given land by deposedating the Aromanians of their lands purchased from the Sultan and from local beys or rented from Turks and used for hundreds of years. How the basic occupation of Aromanians was shepherding flocks (Micle, 2013), they saw at once threatened their existence by parceling source and allotment of the old areas of shepherding by these Greeks newcomers from Turkey and Russia. To avoid a miserable life or even to disappear as an ethnic group, Aromanians have turned to a place where they can maintain their identity and to bring forth life. This place seemed to be Romania, and so in March 1923, a group of Aromanians from Veria, Greece, have addressed to the Macedonian Romanian school inspector to find the Romanian Government's position on a possible settlement of the Aromanians in Quadrilateral (Popa-Gorjanu, 2000). An important role in this process of colonization will return to „Macedo-Romanian Cultural Society” founded in Bucharest since 1879. It was a responsible inters alia, the right to grant civil status documents necessary following the granting Romanian citizenship (Popa-Gorjanu, 2000). As many historians and press records, opinions were divided on both sides, both among the Aromanians and Romanians. Some considered them to be rather suitable to be settled in Maramureş or Bessarabia to boost the trade and economic activity there, others thought they were unable to adapt to the agricultural life of the Quadrilateral, due to their traditional occupation, and that were used to mountain environment. This apprehension was shared at the beginning, even by the „Macedo-Romanian Cultural Society”, which saw the deployment of Aromanians as an element to weaken their presence in territories submitted to graecization (Papahagi, 2003). Among the hottest arguments made in favour of colonizing Aromanians in Quadrilateral were the strengthening of the Romanian element in this part of the country, mainly occupied by Turks and Bulgarians, strengthening trade activity and that Aromanians could integrate better in this part of the country because they already knew the language and culture of the Balkan peoples, so they were already used to this multiethnic and multicultural environment (Batzaria, 2005). They hoped that the Romanian government will help them with terrains, building materials, money, transportation and customs formalities. Since 1922, it will call on all the ways that their will to be taken by the Romanian authorities concerned, by written petition, by making representations to Romanian consul in Thessaloniki (Noe, 1938). Their demands will receive a favourable solution in 1925 by the government of Iuliu Maniu, which promised to make this a priority. Also in favour of colonization ruled the great scholar and politician Nicolae Iorga (Bujduveanu, 1997). Quadrilateral colonization was based on the organization of New Law of Dobrudja on 1 April 1914, supplemented by those of 1924 and 1930 (Cuşa, 2004). Given the limited agricultural area, it was agreed firstly to be colonized 1,500 Aromanian families and 1,500 families from the Old Kingdom, based on tables prepared by delegates’ settlers. The colonists were to receive one batch of 10-15 ha; a place for house of 2000 square meters and a place of pasture about 50 areas in the wilderness (Cuşa, 2004). After hearing the news that the Romanian state support colonization, the Aromanians have liquidated all their wealth of home places and raised money preparing to immigrate to Romania, in the hope that the state will help them to rebuild their houses in Quadrilateral (Cornelia Popa-Gorjanu, 2000). Although the colonists had demanded from the state long term loans Modern Romans Colonized in Romania - The Aromanians 257 for the construction of households and transport from the Balkans to Romania, they were left to fend for themselves and were made to pay for transport (Cuşa, 2004). It is necessary to mention that the process of colonization took place, roughly between 1925 and 1933, continuing sporadically until 1938. This was done with some interruptions due to the instability of governments in the interwar period and held a little awkward since the arrival in the country, Aromanians were told to go to the villages and to find accommodation before they will build houses, so they had to live with Bulgarians or with Turks, hence appearing numerous conflicts. The wealthiest bought entire villages from the Turks who left the country, others built new villages, but most had to stay in the host even up to four years (Noe, 1938). Between 1927 - 1935, according to ONAC (Cuşa, 2004) in the Quadrilateral 3635 Aromanian families were allotted, 1945 in Durostor county and 1690 families in the Kaliakra county, but until 1940 the number of Aromanian families settled in Quadrilateral will reach 6553 (figure 1). Figure 1. The repartition of Aromanians in the two counties of Quadrilateral (Durostor and Kaliacra counties) in 1940 (Source: Cuşa, 2004) In 1935, by government decision, Aromanian colonists whose identity documents were recognized by ONAC received Romanian citizenship in a ceremony at Silistra on September 21th (Cuşa, 2004). As the lack of statistical data, the exact number of Aromanians from Quadrilateral may not be known precisely, at present many records were lost or destroyed, for example Capidan (1932) advance the number of 12,000 souls, Muşi (1936), in his book „A decade of colonization in New Dobruja” written in 1935 shows the figure of 32,765 souls, and Constantin Noe, in „Colonization of Quadrilateral”, written in 1938 forward figure of 24,730 souls. As place of origin, the first families in the country were Aromanians from Pleasa, Fărsherots of Albania, who founded the first Aromanian settlement of Quadrilateral, the village
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